Vote ‘no’ on tax referendum

Published: Friday, Oct. 26, 2012 1:15 a.m. CST

By Vern R. Klenz Dixon

A few facts to consider before you vote for the sales tax referendum. We currently pay $1 in sales tax (6.75 percent) for every $14.85 we spend. If the referendum passes, we will pay $1.15 for sales tax (7.75 percent) for every $14.85 that we spend. The amount of sales tax that we pay will increase by 14.8 percent, not 1 percent.

On the Dixon Public Schools webpage, under the heading of sports and activity center proposal, in the frequently asked questions, it says, “You would pay an additional .01 cent on every dollar you spend. For example:

Purchase Additional Tax

$1 .01 cent

$10 .10 cent

$50 .50 cent

[End quote]

Do not believe the fabrication that your sales tax is only going to go up by a one-hundredth of a cent for every dollar that you spend. At that rate, you would have to spend $100 before you paid an additional penny in tax. If the numbers from the above table were correct, the tax would increase from 6.75 percent to 6.76 percent, instead of 7.75 percent.

In recent comments on Saukvalley.com, Chief Langloss (spokesman for We Are Dixon) wrote, “It will cost Lee County residents an extra .01 cent if they spend $1.”

The lie is everywhere now. How can you have a fair election? I guess that it is not just the students who are mathematically challenged. Now I understand how Dixon’s leaders (who are backing this tax) never missed $53 million.

Vote no.

Note to readers – A check of the Frequently Asked Questions file on the Dixon Schools website shows that the tax chart, which contained the errors pointed out by Mr. Klenz, has been corrected.